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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 116 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  3. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  8. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  9. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  10. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  11. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  12. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  13. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  14. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  19. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. patient — a sick person
  3. straw — a straw man
  4. capital — a city
  5. kick — a thrill
  6. clip — to cut
  7. safe — out of danger
  8. safe — out of danger
  9. band — a music group
  10. kick — with a leg
  11. band — a rubber band
  12. straw — dry grass
  13. wind — to turn a key
  14. wind — moving air
  15. wind — moving air
  16. patient — calm and waiting
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. patient — a sick person
  19. straw — to clutch at straws
  20. capital — money
  21. kick — in football
  22. clip — for paper
  23. safe — a strongbox
  24. clip — a video

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com